1. Field of Use
The invention relates to the use of memories and, more particularly, an object of the invention is a method and the corresponding device for the updating of information elements in a memory and the use of said method and device in memory cards.
In memory cards that enable the updating of information elements recorded therein, notably RAM or EEPROM type memories, as opposed to the EEPROM memories where the updatings by erasure and re-recording are not possible, a major problem relates to possible interruptions in supply during the updating. Indeed, if an interruption of the supply voltage takes place during the updating of an information element, it may be the case that the former value of the data element has been only partially erased or that the new one has been only partially written in the memory.
2. Description of Related Art
This problem exists notably for the updating of computer memories. Solutions exist in this field. They make use of supplies that are not subject to cuts, or of particular methods for the management of access to information, by software.
In the field of memory cards, such solutions are not applicable for it is impossible to maintain the supply without cuts and, since the resources are highly limited in terms of program size, the only solution that can be contemplated is that of an a posterior checking of erased or written data elements, during the final application, in order to detect and then correct the errors if any.